RAMALLAH: Saudi Arabia will give the Palestinian government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank $100m to help alleviate a worsening budget crisis, the Palestinian president’s office said yesterday. 

President Mahmoud Abbas has struggled to convince Arab countries to deliver a $100m monthly “safety net” they promised when he secured de facto UN recognition of a Palestinian state in November, prompting Israeli sanctions.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian government has been hard-pressed to pay more than $300m in monthly expenditures since Israel announced it would confiscate $100m it collects in customs taxes on their behalf each month. AFP